Maryland Man Sentenced to Five Years in Prison for Participating in a Drug Trafficking Conspiracy

WASHINGTON – Everette Reel, 46, of Upper Marlboro, Md., was sentenced today to five years in prison on charges stemming from an investigation into a narcotics conspiracy involving eight individuals in Washington, D.C. and Maryland, announced U.S. Attorney Jessie K. Liu and Nancy McNamara, Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI’s Washington Field Office.

Reel pled guilty in September 2018 in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia to one count of conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute 28 grams or more of cocaine base and a detectable amount of cocaine. The Honorable Richard J. Leon sentenced Reel to the prison term, to be followed by five years of supervised release.

Reel was arrested with seven other individuals in March 2018 on charges stemming from a conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute cocaine and 280 grams or more of crack. In May 2015, the FBI, with the assistance of the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD), began a long-term investigation into a drug trafficking organization that operated in the Montana Terrace neighborhood of Northeast Washington and extended into Maryland. Numerous defendants also were charged with possessing and distributing various narcotics, including crack, cocaine, PCP and fentanyl, during the period of the investigation.

During the execution of a search warrant on Reel’s residence, FBI agents recovered approximately 15 grams of cocaine, a .40 caliber Springfield Armory pistol, 12 rounds of ammunition in two separate calibers, a gun box, and approximately $16,000 in cash.

This case is part of an Organized Crime and Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) investigation. OCDETF specializes in the investigation and prosecution of drug trafficking and money laundering organizations and related criminal enterprises.

In announcing the sentence, U.S. Attorney Liu and Assistant Director in Charge McNamara, commended the work of those who investigated the case. They cited the efforts of those who worked on the case from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia, including Paralegal Specialists Jeannette Litz and Teesha Tobias, and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Christopher Macchiaroli and Kevin Rosenberg of the Violent Crime and Narcotics Section, who conducted the underlying investigation, indicted the case, and are prosecuting the remaining defendants.